Publisher's Summary

He's here. Amanda Young doesn’t know who…or how…or why. She only knows that evil has come to Port Isley, the picturesque seaside village she calls home. It arrives on the wings of summer, in the guise of a sinister, nameless man crowded among the tourists from Seattle. He’s there when Amanda has a premonition of a classmate’s murder and when the girl’s mutilated body is discovered hours later. He’s lurking nearby when the neighbors she’s known forever inexplicably begin to…change. There — when their suddenly raging emotions transform them into lustful, violent shadows of themselves. Only a select few see the dark signs: Amanda, the town psychiatrist, and the local newspaper publisher. Together, they set out to discover exactly what’s happening in Port Isley — and whether or not anyone has a prayer of getting out of the town alive.

Small Town Summer Stranger Danger

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Maybe. It was well written and definitely held my attention but the ending was unsatisfying and implausible. The narration was good and the characters felt real. The suspense and pervasive atmosphere of doom was riveting. The tension builds and builds and then... just falls off a cliff. And not a dramatic high cliff. Just poof. Done. Still, I enjoyed the chilling account of a small resort town going mad and will definitely look for other work from S. D. Perry.

All Thoughts, No Scares.

Very disappointed in this one. For a story that is predominately talk and thoughts, there is very little character development. There is little suspense and absolutely no "horror" to this story. Sadly, it's not even interesting from a psychological viewpoint, although it is desperately trying to be that.

The premise is basically what happens to a small town when all inhibitions have gone. Lots of talk about sex, obsessions, and murder but very little actual action. We are led to believe from the title that there is a sinister force behind it all but "the summer man" is absent from 99% of the story. Teenage and middle age angst abounds.

Great Narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Summer Man the most enjoyable?

Ms. Rudd offered each character his/her individual sounding voice. While the story was a bit slowly paced, at times, her storytelling made it not so bad.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting aspect of the story is David, but the story doesn't focus on him very much. I would like to know more about him, why he is the way he is, other experiences that he's had, and the experiences of his brother, and niece. The least interesting was John, the psychologist. I didn't care who he slept with, and found that all to be distracting from the story.

What about Kate Rudd’s performance did you like?

Her voices for each character, her spirited voice, and the complete lack of vocal fry. I've experienced other audible books with narration that is too painful to hear.

If you could rename The Summer Man, what would you call it?

I think it is aptly named.

Sort by:

Overall

1 out of 5 stars

Performance

1 out of 5 stars

Story

1 out of 5 stars

Lyn & Nino

06-08-17

disappointed

it is rare that I give a one star rating but I had to put this book down before I finished it. I was really excited about reading this book but I was really disappointed at how slow it was and I couldn't concentrate on the story. it is such a shame as this book sounded so interesting

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

sarahmoose2000

06-23-13

Summer Madness

We begin with Amanda sure she's seeing a premonition of a classmate's death. After she is proved right, the rest of the town starts to fall apart. Violence is on the rise, peoples' worst character traits come to the fore; and there is a really freaky chase through a house of mirrors that will scare you if you listen to it alone!